Sending Christmas cards first class is pointless

I think this year could be the first year I don’t send any paper cards! I think all of mine have been/will be replaced my longer greetings/news on an email/e-card or a phone call. From a recipient point of view, I’d enjoy unexpectedly being called (by someone I liked!) more than an unexpected Christmas card which personally I think is a bit less thoughtful – and which will eventually and pretty quickly end up in the (recycling) bin.

Royal Mail Group Ltd, Are useless & Need to be tackled by The Uk Government ASAP.

I didn’t know about the suspension of the next day promise over Xmas, but I have to say that I have ALWAYS posted all my cards on Dec 1st ever since I left my parents home in 1986 and to date I have only ever discovered one card that went missing altogether and no cards, that I know of, have taken more than 24 hours to arrive.
Indeed, at one time i had access to a Franking Machine and, for whatever reason I do not know, but Franked (1st class) mail (at all times of year) often left the office at 3L30 p.m. when the Royal Mail man fetched the sack and in a great many cases people were ringing me by 10:00 a.m. the next day to say they’d received the item.

The question of not sending cards is rather a difficult one. On the one hand I agree that cards are environmentally poor (though as card, real card, is so easy to recycle actually it’s a minuscule issue compared to all the plastic and other rubbish that we generate over the festive season and all year round by buying such frippary as silly plastic toys that last 5 minutes, packs of sweets, crisps, party foods, pre-wrapped mats and so on and so on). I’d also point out that the cost of Greetings cards is astronomical and seems to be a licence to print money (literally) for the makers.

On the other hand buying charity cards – NOT the supermarket ones but ones DIRECT from the charity – is a very good way to support charities that you like and – in my mind the most important point – there is the issue that Sophie raised about offending people. I’m afraid that anyone who sends me a greeting by text or e-mail won’t be on my friends list for very long: it’s downright ignorant and bad manners. It would be more polite to send NOTHING than to use such methods.

Anyway, this thread is supposed to be about the Mail and first class stamps. Returning to that theme, I would like to stick up for our much maligned postal service which, although not perfect, is generally pretty reasonable at it’s job.
The two specific gripes that I do have though are
1) it is unfair and wrong that franked mail goes cheaper (and it seems to me faster) than mail we pay the full face value of stamps for
2) The cost of stamps is too high, full stop, even when the service is operating well.

This is the last time and year for postal customers to send their mail with cheap stamp price. Once it is privatised, we will see big jump in stamp price, We will surprise if they add vat on postal services.We all have enjoyed great Royal Mail services last few years . If we compare with private postal services, Royal Mail is much cheaper. Charity people will suffer,if we do not send christmas card.They are benifited from christmas card. I would send my cards 10 days early as Royal Mail is getting large volume of letters and parcels during christmas period.First Or second, we just helping our best British brand Royal Mail.

Hi- from an environmental standpoint, Im not doing the meaningless workplace card-fest this year. Im going to be brave – Im not rushing out to Clintons to get an expensive box of vile gaudy cards, to get to sit down for a couple of my precious hours at home AWAY from those who cant be bothered to be consistently pleasant to me from Jan to Dec – and try to remember the spellings of the hypocritical card givers names and….cringe! their partners names – AAAGHH! and write out “Happy Christmas” and then trudge around the office leaving them on desks in the hope of goodwill for the next year! Its a pointless exercise. Christmas cards dont matter one bit – better to remember to treat people well all year round and then get to SAY Happy Christmas to them (if you’ve earnt that luxury) and to HEAR it back from them, if they have earnt that privilege too. Otherwise, forget it – and save money and your feelings and of course, do your bit for the planet and dont help to destroy the planet.